


Knight

by eggsinsunnyside



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game), Hyper Light Drifter
Genre: Crossover, Drifter learns to co op, The knight is so very lost, fair bit of violence, no beta readers we die like mortals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-12-26 06:58:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18278141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eggsinsunnyside/pseuds/eggsinsunnyside
Summary: Something new lurks in the forest and the Drifter runs into it.





	1. Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Drifter runs into something new.

Something had happened in the West. There’s a sense of change and wrongness that pervades the light breeze, and the Guardian frowns underneath their helmet. They remember their recently rescued friend - a drifter from the outside world - heading there in search for any remaining treasures left behind. 

They wonder if the wanderer would alright. Their new friend had proven capable of looking after themselves after witnessing a run in with the wolves - _the Drifter heaving loudly underneath their mask and clutching tightly to their sword, yet still standing strong above the shredded corpses -_ but the Guardian fears for the illness that plagues them both. They remember finding the Drifter collapsed near the ruins, body wracked with pain and the thinest trail of blood dripping from their mouth.

The Guardian makes sure to stop by the store for an extra health kit. Hopefully the Drifter would not need it by the time the Guardian found them.

 

* * *

 

The Drifter had lately gotten a habit of checking every little spot in the area. After accidentally falling through a bush and discovering a hidden cache of treasures, they held the suspicion that there were more items lying around in the forest. The Guardian once joked that they were becoming a scavenger and the Drifter let out an indignant snort. 

They were most certainly not scavengers! Just merely a traveller who took items that were left behind by their former owners though they do their best not to think about what happened to said owners. 

Today had been rather quiet, the Drifter noted. 

They had yet to run into the wolves lurking throughout the forest, not that they weren’t thankful for, but it was impossible to miss the wolves. They were always seeking the Drifter’s flesh for a meal. The Drifter was not fond of surprises and change in routine often meant surprises coming in the Drifter’s path. 

They turn to move onto the next area when there’s a howl. It was loud, shattering the peaceful silence that had settled in the forest and startling the Drifter. They recognised this howl. Wolves made that howl when the Drifter was cutting down their pack with their sword until none were left alive. 

Something was hurting the wolves and it was close by. 

The Drifter wants to run, leave and go back to Home (where their friend Guardian waits, where it is _safe_ ) but another side of them wants to investigate. Their curiosity begins to override their flight instincts, a desire to discover something new rising within and the Drifter complies. They could take care of themselves if what they found was less than friendly. 

They grip their sword more tightly. 

Scarlet blood drenches the grass, more of which soaks the earth as the wanderer approaches. The howls are starting to die down into pained whimpers, eventually fading off to silence. With each step, a wolf is silenced and the Drifter begins to think that perhaps this was a mistake. They should’ve stayed away and gone back to the town. 

The last of the wolf is dead by the time the Drifter arrives to the scene. Corpses littered all over the scene and for a moment, the Drifter sees a black worm snarling and writhing-

They blink. 

A stranger that barely reaches half of their height, two horns with jagged ends protruding from each side of their head; a white helmet encompasses their whole head with only two holes for it to see through and for strangers to meet its blank gaze. It wretches out its weapon from the last wolf’s corpse, tearing out some of the flesh with its coiled tip and stares blankly at the newest intruder. 

The Drifter raises their sword out of instincts and its the only thing that saves them from being skewered by the stranger’s weapon (too short to be a spear and too long to be a sword, just what was it exactly). There’s unnatural strength behind that swing, and not even blocking the weapon saved the Drifter from harm. The weapon manages to graze their arm and shoulder, drawing the smallest amount of blood and with great effort, the Drifter forces the blade away from them. 

It leaps away from the Drifter, far enough that the Drifter would need to perform a chain dash to catch the warrior, yet it kept its eyes on them. At least, the Drifter assumed so. The hollowed eyes made it very difficult for the Drifter to identify its intents or emotions. 

There’s a buzzing at the back of the Drifter’s mind, drowning out everything but the entity standing before them. The Drifter could start with an opening attack with the assumption that they could close the distance relatively quickly via chain dashing then perhaps-

The warrior lunges again, another swing with their weapon and the Drifter reacts. A dash to the side, avoid the swing - for a moment, there’s surprise in those black void - and the Drifter retaliates with their blade. It hits the side of the stranger’s helmet, a loud resounding crack from blade meeting helmet and fractures growing at the contact. 

It knocks the little one to the ground in a stumbling mess, its weapon released from its grasp and it rolls to a gradual stop. It doesn’t move. 

The Drifter warily steps forward to the body, gripping their sword with anticipation. The buzzing was still present in their mind but now harshly whispering in their ear ‘ _Get rid of it._ ’

Their sword is still in their grasp and they have half a mind to drive that blade into the stranger’s body - it tried to hurt them it was going to hurt them - but the rustling leaves stops them from continuing. 

“Friend.” The Guardian’s voice boomed from behind them, the faintest hint of relief in their greeting, “It is good to see you are alright.” 

As if snapped out of a trance, the Drifter forgets their original intention and greets the Guardian back. They don’t miss the Guardian glancing at their injury and the unconscious fighter lying next to them. 

“An intruder?” Apprehension in the Guardian’s tone and the Drifter shakes their head. “Did they not harm you? I did see plenty of wolves outside earlier.”

The Drifter pauses in thought, debating whether or not to speak the truth. They pointed at the wolves. 

“Perhaps we should return. You are much easier to communicate with paper.” The Guardian chortled, moving to the horned warrior and gently lifting them up. “Are you able to walk fine?” 

The Drifter huffed indignantly and walked around in circle, earning another laugh from the Guardian. 

“Of course you are. You did slaughter those wolves after all.” 

Well, what the Guardian didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

 

* * *

 

Hurts hurts hurts something broke-

Can’t move, too much leaking, lifeblood enemy hurts mask is fractured flawed IMPERFECT-

It wakes in a bundle of cloth. Not too tightly wrapped, loose enough that it can move its limbs around-

Nail is missing. Where was their Nail?

“I see that you are awake.”

Red. Blue. Tall and big and cold. Someone different. The one they remember was red all over. 

“Are you well? You’ve been resting but I’m afraid that your head is still fractured.” Large hands extend to their head-

HURT HURT MOVE AWAY STRIKE-

It flinches away from the hand. Unconsciously, its hand searched for the Nail that wasn’t there. 

The hand retracts (CAN’T REACH WON’T HURT) and they speak. 

“Apologies. I should have not done that.” Their voice is not harsh or grating, a stark contrast to what it remembers. “Your weapon is sitting on the table. It is as we left it.”

It peers over the cover just enough to see. Their Nail. It abandons the blankets quickly, grabbing its Nail and sheathing it.

“Do you recall what happened? My friend had found you in Crystal Woods though they have not told me of their encounter with you.” They asked it, “Perhaps you would be willing to shed some light?”

It doesn’t-

( Lost so lost where was-

Green but red, path where is-

Danger peak, pink light beware-

Nothing is left nothing is here nothing is- )

It doesn’t know. 

It shakes its head and they let out a sigh. “I suppose it is not of my concerns. What you do now is up to you.”

It knows when to leave and it does so. They wander in this new place that is so much bigger than them and _brighter._

It finds the Red one lingering outside of a building. It wanders close to them-

( _Again we meet-_ )

It tugs on their red cloak. They look down to acknowledge its presence, a questioning look in their eyes. 

( _Head towards that fated goal-_ )

It doesn’t remember anymore but it vaguely knows red is good. Good meant friendly. 

They gaze down at it and it stared back. An unsaid question to follow the wanderer, the one who fought them and won- 

The wanderer leaves and the ghost follows.

( _What dreams we share-_  )

It hopes to remember one day. 


	2. Companion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drifter gains a companion.

Drifter isn’t used to travelling with another, not counting their Companion bot. They had gone alone for so long that hearing another pair of footsteps accompanying their own made them feel on edge. 

A rustle of leaves and the Drifter almost brings their sword out to the source of the noise, ready to cut down whatever was stalking them. 

A curious white helmet stared back at the Drifter. The sword was lowered as the Drifter identified their stalker as the little one from the day before. Bits of leaves and twigs clung to its horns and cloak, and the nasty fracture that the Drifter gave to its helmet had remained. 

Drifter eyed at the faintest trace of red splattered at the tip of its odd weapon, precious life fluid already dried out from a combination of time and the North’s chilling wind. Had it been following them? If so, just how long had it been following the Drifter for them to never notice their follower?

Questions that the Drifter couldn’t ask, and they had the suspicion that the little one would not answer either.

It sheathes its weapon on its back, a clear indicator that it had not come to harm the Drifter again and stared up at the wanderer. The Drifter fought back the unnerved shiver climbing on their back. There was something off with its eyes, even though the Drifter had black eyes themselves. Almost like there was nothing behind that white helmet. 

Drifter tosses the thought out of their head. There was assuming and then there was imagining.

They shoot the little one a confused frown, an attempt to question the little one’s motive behind following the wanderer. 

It merely tilts its head at them, their gaze remaining as blank as ever. It waddled closer to Drifter and tugged lightly on their cloak. 

Did it want their cloak? 

The Drifter glares at the little one and gestured at its own cloak. The little one already had its own and the Drifter was extremely uncomfortable with the prospect of relinquishing their cloak to anyone, much less a stranger. The wanderer’s cloak was too big for the little one anyway, though the mental image of it wading through the fabric was amusing at least. 

The little one releases the Drifter’s cloak when it was clear that neither of the two knew what the other was attempting to communicate, but it remained close to the wanderer. The gesture was clear; it intended to continue following them. 

Drifter considers outrunning the little one. It’s been so long (or have they ever?) since they’ve drifted alongside with someone and their first encounter with the little one had been less than stellar. Who knows what it wanted from the wanderer and what it’d do once it got what it wanted. 

The Drifter stared into the Abyss, expecting a pink diamond eye to flash its fury at the infected one. The Abyss stared back with nothing but the dark swimming in the void. 

The Drifter glanced up at the summit of the North which was so very far away and sighed wearily. They gesture at the little one to follow them but keep their sword out. 

If the little one wanted to follow them, it would have to look after itself.

 

* * *

 

The Acolytes are relentless in their assault on the intruders but so were the intruders in their endeavour to reach the summit of the mountain. The Drifter is swift in lopping off the head of the unfortunate avians that dived in on them in a futile attempt to pick off the wanderer. 

The little one picks off at the Acolytes shooting laser beam at it and the Drifter. Its weapon is more than sharp enough to spear through feather and flesh, leaving bleeding holes on the unfortunate avian that had been chosen as its target. 

Had Drifter not known about the zealots’ involvement in the burning of the Hatchery, they would’ve felt some sympathy for the avians. Except they did so no pity was wasted at that moment. 

The birds screech as more of their brethren were put down by the intruders, the lasers becoming more sporadic and spread out across the area. Drifter had barely managed to hide behind one of the sacrificial altars when lasers assaulted the field.

Their eyes dart around for another hiding spot that would give them advantage when they spotted the little one running out in the open, diving to where the Acolytes were gathered.

The Drifter initially reached out to yank the little one into their hiding spot, a silent scolding resting at the tip of their tongue when there was a scream. 

The Drifter had heard their fair share of noises, what is with being infected with a mysterious plague that often had them hallucinating a large hulking monster destroying the Drifter and skirmishing against those they come across in their drifting. 

This _shriek_ was something else entirely. 

It was a cacophony of voices, tearing out into the open and destroying the eardrums of those unfortunate enough to be close to it. Black plumes erupted in the air and hundreds of white glowing eyes shining from the dark screaming out as one colossal titan born from wrath and pain. 

Then it disappeared just as fast as it had appeared, a sharp slurping noise fill-in the air as the crying souls were absorbed into a much smaller vessel - the little one that stood innocently in the carnage that it had caused. 

It is quiet. 

None of the Acolytes had survived. The Drifter doesn’t dare to move from behind the altar table until the quiet tapping of the little one approached them. It stares at them indifferently, as if it hadn’t just released a village worth of souls on the birds and reabsorbed said souls. 

Then it deposits a small green box in front of them. 

Why did it-

The little one pointed at its cheek and the Drifter shakily felt their own cheek, letting out a hiss when their touch brought a burning sting. They must’ve been grazed by one of the lasers that the Acolytes had unleashed earlier. 

Their Companion bot beeps at them insistently, floating near the medicinal box that the little one had procured for them. 

It waits for them patiently as the Drifter applies first aid to their wound and only moves when Drifter manages to stand up. Drifter does their best not to look at the bodies of the Acolyte or stare into their blank, listless gaze as they pass by. 

It reminded them of a sea of corpses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A sea of corpses. Wonder where else have we seen that, hm?

**Author's Note:**

> If any of yall wanna talk or ask, i’m yun-shuten on tumblr.


End file.
